Hailing mainly from sub-Saharan countries, most of the migrants board boats operated by people traffickers in the country’s west, heading for the Italian island of Lampedusa 300 kilometres (190 miles) away.

Since the beginning of this year, at least 590 migrants have died or gone missing along the Libyan coast, the IOM said in late March.

More than 24,000 migrants arrived in Italy from Libya during the first three months of the year, up from 18,000 in the same period last year, according to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.